Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Given Buy Rating at BTIG Research

Key Points

• BTIG Research reiterated a Buy rating on Shift4 with a $70 price target, implying roughly a 49.6% upside from the stock's current level.
• Shift4 reported Q results with $0.97 EPS (miss vs. $0.99) and $1.12B revenue (beat vs. $1.09B), and set FY2026 guidance of 5.500–5.700 EPS, above analysts' ~4.65 forecast.
• Analyst views are mixed — MarketBeat shows a consensus Hold and $72.76 price target (11 Buy / 10 Hold / 2 Sell) — while insider buying (Jared Isaacman purchased 43,827 shares) and very high institutional ownership (98.87%) signal notable investor interest.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at BTIG Research in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $70.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research's target price would indicate a potential upside of 49.56% from the company's current price.

FOUR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $81.00 to $56.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Truist Financial set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Shift4 Payments from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Shift4 Payments from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Shift4 Payments has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.76.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

Shift4 Payments stock traded up $3.93 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $46.81. 2,113,000 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,281,856. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. Shift4 Payments has a 52-week low of $39.90 and a 52-week high of $108.50. The firm's 50 day moving average is $46.05 and its 200 day moving average is $58.87.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. Shift4 Payments had a return on equity of 39.27% and a net margin of 2.84%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 49.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.500-5.700 EPS. Analysts predict that Shift4 Payments will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Shift4 Payments news, major shareholder Jared Isaacman acquired 43,827 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $45.75 per share, with a total value of $2,005,085.25. Following the purchase, the insider owned 1,410,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,540,760.25. The trade was a 3.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 385,757 shares of company stock valued at $17,666,153. 25.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FOUR. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Shift4 Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,303,000. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in Shift4 Payments by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 6,338,567 shares of the company's stock valued at $628,215,000 after acquiring an additional 890,990 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 3,048.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 872,453 shares of the company's stock worth $54,938,000 after purchasing an additional 844,746 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the 4th quarter worth about $51,635,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,655,485 shares of the company's stock worth $104,246,000 after purchasing an additional 816,155 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Shift4 Payments

Shift4 Payments is a U.S.-based provider of integrated payment processing and technology solutions, serving merchants across the hospitality, retail, e-commerce, gaming and lodging industries. The company's platform enables businesses to accept in-store, online and mobile payments through a combination of point-of-sale hardware, payment gateway services and back-office software. By centralizing transaction processing and reporting, Shift4 aims to simplify payments, enhance security and streamline operations for its merchant customers.

The company's core offerings include encrypted point-of-sale terminals, cloud-based payment gateways, and developer-friendly APIs for online and mobile checkouts.

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